Simply Desperate
by somerdaye
Summary: Roxanne only means to go back a few weeks...she just needed more time to study. Now she's stuck, and confused. But being a Gryffindor does require bravery, and she's got plenty of that. Time Travel fic. ON HIATUSish.
1. six hundred seventy two

**a/n;** This fanfiction was HEAVILY inspired by pop-pop-bananas' _Rewind/Press Play/Fast Forward_ series. However, it IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. If that made sense. Okay, look, this chapter sucks, mainly because I wanted the beginning over and done with. I know what I'm doing with the rest of the story, but this first chapter? -shudder- It was complete torture. It's so lame, I'm ashamed. HAHAHAHA, RYHME! Ahem.

_**simply desperate**_

_**six hundred seventy two**_

_I'll sing it one last time for you_

_Then we really have to go_

_You've been the only thing that's right_

_In all I've done_

_**xx**_

Throughout Hogwarts, students were enjoying the newly-June weather. Except, of course, for the OWL and NEWT-year students. Especially the ones who didn't study.

"It doesn't even seem right," a strawberry-blond wizard in the Gryffindor common room was complaining to his friends. "That _they_ get to be outside, and _we're _stuck in here."

"To be fair, Lysander," Fred Weasley, seventh year, rolled his eyes. "We haven't done much work lately. Stupid Dad and his need for helpers in the shop..."

"Stupid _us_, you mean," his sister Roxanne piped up, poring over a large book of Runes. "For actually agreeing to help him. Merlin's pants, I'm going to fail my OWLs!" she exclaimed suddenly, causing her cousin Louis to spill his ink all over Victoire's old Transfiguration notes and curse loudly.

"You won't fail," Lysander's twin brother Lorcan said patiently, siphoning the ink off the thick stack of parchment. "You know Runes like you know the English language, probably better. Plus, all the teachers love you. That should help."  
"Yes, and that's lovely," Molly snapped at her fellow Gryffindors from the corner, glaring daggers at them all over her Arithmancy textbook. "But the teachers will not be the ones examining us, and I can assure you that the people who _are_ testing us will not play favoritism!"

"Geez, Molly. You've got too much Percy in you." Lysander sniggered and skillfully dodged the vase thrown at him.

"Urgh! I can't _do_ this!" Roxanne wailed in anguish. Lysander patted her head awkwardly.

"Just...go ask McGonagall if there's any way you can do your exams later...this summer, maybe? I mean, the rest of us are fine, really, but, Rox...you seem sorta desperate."  
"Ah, Lysander. Your tact and concern for others never cease to amaze me," Lorcan said, rubbing Roxanne's back. "But he's got a point, Anne. Go see McGonagall."

"Urgh, I'll _try_ and talk to her," she said doubtfully, raising from her chair. "And if I don't come back, Fred can have my chocolate frog card collection." Her friends laughed as she jogged out of the room and down the corridor. She believed in maintaining a peak fitness for Quidditch, no matter how far away the season was. So she tended to jog everywhere, causing her friends to abandon all hope of walking her to class.

She jumped the fallen suit of armor expertly and gave Peeves, who had just pushed it over, a rude hand gesture. She finally saw the gargoyle at the end of the hallway and sprinted the rest of the way.

"Albus," she said confidently and with perfectly even breath, and the entrance opened.

A few moments later, she found herself explaining to the Headmistress why she was even bothering to ask for more time, as the dozens of portraits pretended to be asleep.

"And I couldn't let Dad down, he's just starting to get back to what he used to be, according to Mum! Please, Professor, just an extra week!" Roxanne was practically begging, but McGonagall's face remained impassive, tired, and wrinkly.

"No, Miss Weasley, I will not give you more time - in that sense, anyway. Here's a Time Turner. Use it to go back a month and actually _study_. And don't look at me with that big smile of yours, it wasn't my idea, and I certainly don't condone it. But Albus..." she gave the portrait a reproachful look. The wide awake Dumbledore-portrait chuckled.

"My dear Minerva, Miss Weasley is quite able to handle a Time Turner properly. It's better than having her do the exams later than everyone else and get questioned about favoritism, isn't it?"

"Yes, well...Miss Weasley, just spin the necklace." McGonagall said tiredly, letting her eyes drift shut. Roxanne almost laughed out loud at her Headmistress' behavior, but held it in until she was back down the staircase.

"McGonagall's lost it!" Roxanne giggled to herself, but then examined the Time Turner in front of her. "Hm...so, I wonder how many turns? I'm assuming you turn it back hours...but if I wanted to go back a month...dammit, where's Lorcan when you need him? Okay...umm...carry the one...six hundred seventy two. Wow, that's a lot of turns. Okay, let's do this. Stop talking to yourself, it's very unhealthy. Shut up, I'll do whatever I want. Oh great, now I'm _arguing_ with myself. That's far from healthy. Here we...go."

And she started to spin the Time Turner 672 times. When she finally reached that number, she let go of the hourglass to stretch her fingers. That's when she noticed - the hourglass was still spinning.

"What? No! Only six hundred and seventy -"

Her surroundings blurred horribly, and she was afraid. What if she went too far back, and she had to lay low for a couple years while she caught up with her own age? Oh, this was not good...

She closed her eyes, scared out of her wits. She was still going back...way too far!

A moment later, she became aware that she wasn't moving anymore. She stood completely still, afraid to open her eyes.

"Hello...are you lost?" a kind voice asked politely, even though she had probably just dropped out of the sky. Roxanne gathered all her Gryffindor bravery and opened one eye a crack. And nearly screamed.

"But - but you're - you're supposed to be dead!" she exclaimed, pointing at the elderly wizard behind the Headmaster's desk. A wizard she'd only ever seen in pictures.

"I can assure you, I am not. Where did you come from?"

"Um...if you mean 'where' like 'place' - here. If you mean 'where' like 'when'...2025?"

Dumbledore looked startled for a fraction of a second, but then smiled politely.

"I would think it's now safe to assume the world will not spontaneously combust when the calendar marks the new milenium?"

"Huh?" Roxanne was confused. She was always told Dumbledore was the brightest wizard, like, ever. But then she recalled her father's words: _The man might have been brilliant like whoa, but Roxy, he was a mental, manipulative git. He was very nice, though. So nice, in fact, it annoyed Fred to extremes! I remember this one time..._ And then he would laugh. It was amazing, she'd been told, that he could laugh about his twin now. And from the stories Roxanne had heard, her own brother had been rightly named.

"What year am I in?" she asked, to shake away thoughts of her family. If she was too far back, she might not be able to get back to them...

"Er - it's August 30th, 1976, actually."

"Huh. See, if I were one of those girls that liked cliches, I would faint right about now."

"Oh, I'm sure you will anyway." Dumbledore said cheerfully.

"That's correct."

_Thud._

_**xx**_

**a/n; **Somosegksmgvknsmxkdgn. I hate this chapter to extremes. Siriusly. AHAHAHA. I made a funny! :D Okay, I'm in a weird mood. Um. Yeah.

Yay for semi-predictable storylining!

Also, I had to use a calculator for that 672thing. And it's probably not even correct. -sigh-


	2. althea

**a/n; **Thanks for the reviews, **xJALDx **(what is your first name? doesn't have to be your real first name, just gimme something to call you because I'm tired of xJALDx and I can't spell your new name without going back to check. so yeahhh. xD) and **Love is the key to the world** ! :D I really need to bake you guys cookies, you're always so nice! :)

ANYWAY. Sorry about the crappiness of the last chapter, but like I said, I just needed it OUT OF THE WAYY. :P So I hope this chapter is slightly better (maybe not the beginning) and that you'll try and enjoy it. :D

_**simply desperate**_

_**althea**_

_And I can barely look at you_

_Cause every single time I do_

_I know we'll make it anywhere_

_Away from here_

_**xx**_

"So, let me get this straight," Roxanne was saying as Dumbledore lead her down to the Great Hall. It was now September 1st, and the hundreds of other students were arriving soon. Dumbledore had given her a bed to rest in and free roam in the school - she had spent most of her time in the library, since she never did her OWLs, and she'd be in sixth year in this time period. "I'm supposed to call myself Roxanne Anderson, not Weasley, since my Uncle Bill - who is, by the way, over ten years older than my dad - is a first year?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"But why Anderson?" she persisted, ignoring Dumbledore's always-cheerful attitude. She had grown fond of him over the past couple days, but still. Her dad was right - he _did_ get annoying.

"Because there are three Andersons at this school, triplets, and two of them are a year ahead of you. The girl, however, got held back because of chicken pox a few years ago. The three are Muggleborn, and have a great number of half-siblings they've never met."

"So you're disguising me as one of their siblings?"

"You're very quick on the uptake, Miss Anderson," his eyes twinkled as they descended the marble staircase. She could hear, distantly, the sound of laughter and carriages through the open door. "You wait in there." Dumbledore indicated the ante-chamber off the Great Hall where Fred had to eat all his meals in his third year, after starting more food fights than even Neville could handle. Roxanne stifled a giggle at the memory of sneaking in to eat the special feasts - Halloween, Christmas - with him. But the memory made her sad, too. She probably wouldn't ever see Fred again.

However, her father was going to be born in a couple years...that was a scary thought. And her mother, as well. Would she be able to see them? Could she just waltz up to the Burrow and say to Grandma Molly; _Hi, yeah, I'm your grandchild from the future. Can I see my dad and the uncle I never met since he died when he was 20? Thanks. _Yeah. That would fly. Not.

She sprinted into the antechamber, ignoring the startled looks the teachers at the staff table were giving her. She heard the students entering the Entrance Hall as she sat down in a chair, leaving the door open a crack.

"Violet!" Roxanne exclaimed happily, finding herself looking at the old portrait. Violet, who was always nice to her, was now looking at her like she was insane. Then again, this _was_ nearly fifty years before Roxanne had met her. To cover her excitement, she hastened to add, "I've heard so much about you! You're quite famous here, you know."

As she had hoped, Violet flushed with pleasure and fluffed her hair. But before she could respond to this flattery, Dumbledore appeared in the open doorframe with a smile.

"Miss Anderson, we're ready for you. The Sorting is about to begin."

"But I'm a Gryffindor!" she panicked. "Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Gryffindor!" Dumbledore chuckled at her anxious expression.

"I don't doubt that, the way you're handling this. But you still have to put on the Hat, so we may introduce you to the rest of the school."

A thought occured to her in a flash of a long-forgotten memory. "Is...James Potter here? Or Remus Lupin? Or Severus Snape?" Roxanne was almost nervous to hear the answer. She'd never met these men, but she'd heard so much about them. Oh, and - "What about Sirius? Black, I mean, but how many Siriuses can there be?"

Dumbledore seemed both a little confused and more than a little surprised, but he continued to smile. "Yes, they're all here. Mr Potter, Mr Lupin and Mr Black are in Gryffindor, as you so desperately hope to be again, and Mr Snape is in Slytherin. Do you know them?"

Roxanne shook her head. "I've heard so many stories, though. They're all dead in my time. But Remus' son just married my cousin, and my other cousin's middle name is Severus, and _his_ dad's mum and dad are James and Lily Potter, but we never met them - neither did Uncle Harry, actually - but I probably shouldn't have told you that."

"Our little secret," Dumbledore winked, but he was obviously digesting this information. "If you wish to tell me more about the future, perhaps we can change it. Perhaps this...Harry Potter, did you call him? Yes. Perhaps he will be able to know his parents. But we'll discuss it later. The first years are lining up, please join them."

Roxanne jumped up and trotted out of the room. She saw a few Gryffindor heads turn toward her, and then she heard the whispers. Soon, the entire Hall was staring at her. Her natural instict was to run right back in that room, but she channeled her brother.

_Think, Roxy! What would Fred do?_

She tilted her chin up and smirked, raising one eyebrow at them all. With her head held high, she marched over to where the first years were lined up - and staring at her in fear. So what if she was tall? Those were her mother's genes - and joined them.

She gave the Slytherin table a cold glare, and they hastened to return it. What an obvious Gryffindor. Then she nodded in respect to the Ravenclaws, who nodded back approvingly. She greeted the Hufflepuffs with a big grin and a wave, which made nearly everyone at the badger table smile and wave, too. And then, finally, she swiveled her head to meet the Gryffindors. There was two boys close to the back that were smirking at her. They looked cocky, and arrogant, and immature, and - one of them looked identical to Uncle Harry.

_So that's the famous Black and Potter._ Roxanne thought, sizing them up. _They look just like I thought they would. That boy there must be Remus. Dear God, he looks like Teddy. When Teddy's sleeping, I mean...I didn't want to watch him sleep, but back in first year, Dominique videotaped it to put it on Youtube and, well..._

Instead of continuing with this pointless line of thought, Roxanne crossed her eyes at the boys and made them both laugh. She felt smug. But then again, they didn't seem all that hard to amuse.

A very pretty red-haired girl turned and glared at James and Sirius for snickering. When she turned back to look at Roxanne, she saw a flash of rage behind the familiar emerald eyes. But they cooled down just as quickly as they had heated up, and Lily Potter - Evans? - was back to looking like a female version of Uncle Harry. Defiant, suspicious, but still willing to be as kind as possible. Then, Dumbledore stood up, and all heads turned to him.

"Welcome to Hogwarts! Or, for most of you, welcome back! Before we begin our Sorting, I have a very quick announcement. As you all have apparently noticed, we have a new student this year that is not eleven years old. Her name is Roxanne Anderson, and she was being held away from the Wizarding World until recently. So I hope you will treat her nicely. Let the Sorting begin!" By the end of his speech, Roxanne was forcing herself not to turn red. It wasn't difficult, considering her dark skin didn't red nearly as easily as Fred's lighter complexion did.

"Abbot, Jeminiah!" A much, _much_ younger McGonagall starting calling out names. Roxanne's palms began to sweat. Normally her name would be called last, but now...

"_Hufflepuff_!"

...Now she would be right at the beginning.

"Anderson, Roxanne!"

She didn't dare let her anxiety show. She grinned and hopped up to the stool, pulling the Hat over her eyes so she didn't have to see the hundreds of faces turned in her direction. Again.

_You're not a new student._

_Yeah, well. Who can you tell?_

_Not a soul, of course. You know where you are._

_Yes, I'm very confident of which House I'll be in._

_I can see that. I probably shouldn't disappoint you -_

_- No, you shouldn't -_

_- so...._

"_Gryffindor_!"

Roxanne pulled the Hat off, laughing with relief. She had been worried the Hat wouldn't listen to her. As she jogged down to her table, she was met with quite an odd sight.

Two of the older students, both dark-skinned and so alike they had to be siblings, were standing on the bench making war cries. The boy - who had his hair braided to his shoulders - was pumping his arms up and down in time to the war cry, and his sister - she had to be, she looked just like him - with her hair curly but not frizzy like Roxanne's was when she took hers out of their dreadlocks, was simply flailing in all directions, having trouble balancing on only one foot while the other nearly hit a cute, but clueless-looking, boy in the head.

But apparently this was normal, as the boy ducked effortlessly and James and Sirius, a few seats ahead of the two crazy siblings, were cracking up. Remus, however, looked sympathetic and patted an empty seat next to him. Roxanne smiled at him and sat down, not even close to out of breath.

"Hi guys," she chirped, sort of quietly, since the Sorting was still going on. "I'm Roxanne, but you can call me Rox, or Anne, or Roxy, or whatever, if you want. Sirius, James, Remus. I've heard of you." Roxanne then extended her hand to a startled Remus with a friendly smile.

"You have?" Remus asked curiously, but he looked wary as he shook her hand.

"Of course she has!" James was ruffling his hair, making it look even more messy than usual. Sirius was grinning, and his posture suggested he liked - no, loved - attention. She decided to mess with him a bit.

"How could I not have? You three are the greatest pranksters ever, and since my...mum, she's a Muggle, owns a _joke shop_, I knew from the second someone told me about you, that I _needed _to meet you!" she gushed, laying it on thick. Remus caught on and smiled, but James and Sirius were just lapping it up.

"Really?" James asked, excitedly.

"No!" Roxanne replied, her tone just as excited. It took the two a moment to understand what she said. James' hair seemed to droop with sadness, but Sirius threw his head back and laughed.

The food then appeared, and it took the four teenagers - or five, if you included the ignored Peter Pettigrew, watching them laugh enviously from the other side of Remus - a second to realise the Sorting was over.

Roxanne tried to reach for a chicken leg, but Remus grabbed her hand and shook his head in warning. Before she could ask, she saw why. James had kicked into warp-speed and was grabbing everything in sight with lightning fast fingers. _It must come from being such a good Chaser. And I've heard he's good with a Snitch, too._ Sirius, on the other hand, was taking the food from James' plate as soon as James had tossed it on.

A couple seconds later, it was over, and Remus let Roxanne's hand go, a little awkwardly. Roxanne happily grabbed some chicken, brushing off the moment. She spooned quite a bit of mashed potatoes and turnip on her plate as well, followed by roast beef and steamed vegetables. She then covered it _all_ in gravy and proceeded to ravage it. Remus was giving her an exasperated look.

"Wut?" she demanded, her mouth bulging.

"You eat like a guy," James pointed out while he was taking a break from eating. Only because Sirius had stolen his breadstick, and they were now playing tug-of-war over it, though. Roxanne just shrugged. She'd been told this many times. Sometimes in disgust - Aunt Fleur, Uncle Percy, Molly - sometimes in amusement - Uncle Harry, Mum, Papa Arthur - and sometimes in pride - Dad, Uncle Ron, Teddy.

She and Fred used to have contests, when they were little, to see who could eat more of Grandma Molly's cooking in one sitting. They did this every year at Christmas, and they'd recently beaten Uncle Ron. He'd gone and sulked in his old room for about an hour, before coming back downstairs and congratulating them - grudgingly - on a good game.

Her plate was clean before any of the boys', and she had the time before pudding to look around at her new classmates. She accidentally caught the eye of the crazy-war-cry girl, and looked away as quickly as possible, hoping the girl hadn't noticed. No such luck.

"You must be Roxanne! Roxanne Anderson! Hey, that _almost _rhymes! Sort of, don'tcha think?" the girl squeezed herself in between Roxanne and the girl next to her, who was very reminiscant of Neville. "We must be related, my last name's Anderson, too! You're probably my sister, my dad's a bit of a man-whore and all, so he has like fifty million kids I've never met! I've only ever met two of my brothers, since we're triplets, and one of my sisters, who came to meet my dad! She lived with us for a while, but her and Dad got in too many fights, so she went back to Whales! So what did you do over the summer, Roxanderson?" the girl was talking a million miles a minute while chewing on a piece of chicken. It was a little overwhelming.

Roxanne responded automatically as the puddings showed up, feeling so at ease she forgot where she was. "Your mom."

James and Sirius howled with laughter, and even Remus chuckled quietly. The girl stared at her for a second.

"My mom?"

"No, _your_ mom. It's an insult my brother taught me. College slang, you know?" Roxanne was searching for a way to explain this twenty-first century saying without giving away her identity. Wouldn't it suck if she couldn't even last a day?

"What does it mean?" Remus asked with interest. Roxanne smiled at him. He was exactly like Teddy. Inquisitve, quiet, hungry for knowledge. Or was the saying _thirsty for knowledge_? Oh, well. He wanted to digest knowledge, anyway.

"Well, it doesn't really mean anything. The way I used it now was reflex. When someone asks what you're doing or what you've done, or what someone else is doing or has done, you reply with 'your mom'. That context is pretty sexual, but hysterical nonetheless. Or, you could do it my brother's way - just say it after every question someone asks you. You're bound to get odd looks."

"What's your brother's name?" Sirius asked, still sniggering.

"Fred," The name sent a sigh through her body. To cover up why her eyes were suddenly filling with water, she added, "But I haven't seen him in _forever_. He's at college, so I only ever see him sometimes." Sirius reached across the table and patted her hand easily.

Before anyone could respond, Dumbledore stood up and the Hall fell silent.

"You can now go to sleep, I'm sure some of you are close to falling asleep in your pudding!" he chuckled at his own joke, and made a sweeping gesture. All the plates disappeared.

"Oooh! You'll be in my dorm room!" the girl squealed, and grabbed Roxanne's wrist. "We're going to be best friends!" She started to skip away, but Roxanne spun and grabbed James' wrist, slowing them down.

"Help me!" she hissed at him, but he just laughed and shook his head.

"There's nothing and no one that can save you from Althea Amelia Anderson."

_**xx**_

**a/n;** So yeah. Hope you liked this - longer! - chapter muuuuch more than you liked the first one. :D If you have questions, or if I messed up on something, lemme knowww! :D


	3. tomothy

**a/n;** I've got - almost literally - nothing better to do. So, I'm going to try and write this chapter and upload it asap. :D

This chapter should be funnier, if you like the Althea character, or even just meeting new characters in general. Also, this is where the story somewhat starts. This isn't a serious subplot. Only the main plot is serious, but it won't show up for a while. :P (And one of the subplots is Sirius, too, but you know. :D(I pun that too much...))

Clear as mud? K.

_**simply desperate**_

_**tomothy**_

_Light up, light up_

_As if you have a choice_

_Even if you cannot hear my voice_

_I'll be right beside you dear_

_**xx**_

Roxanne and Althea got to the common room later than everyone else, thanks to a "shortcut" of Althea's that ended them up near Filch's office (no, Roxanne doesn't know quite how it happened, either) and got yelled at until Roxanne Confunded the caretaker and set off for one of the trusty Marauder shortcuts.

"I so knew where I was going." Althea continued to say as they approached the Fat Lady.

"You _wanted_ into the dungeons?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed, a manic look crossing her pretty face. Her dark eyes bulged, and since they were already pretty big, it was a pretty scary effect. "Because Severus lives there!" Roxanne saw Althea's eye twitch and decided that now would be a good time to go in the common room.

"Merrowpond." _Lucky I remembered to ask Remus the password._

They were met with a surprise when they opened the door - a raucous amount of noise and the overwhelming scent of Butterbeer.

"Surprise!" the crowd shouted, and Roxanne found herself grinning from ear to ear. A few moments later, everyone calmed down, and Sirius came over and handed her a Butterbeer.

"For me?"

"Yeah, that's why I gave it to you, Anderson," Sirius teased, leaning against the table. She smacked his arm.

"Prat, that's not what I meant. Why didn't you pick up anything from Zonko's while you were there?" Roxanne smirked, enjoying the stunned look on Sirius' face. Of course, she'd have to find a way to explain this...ah-_hah_...

"My brother taught me how to read minds the Muggle way. It works just as well," she invented wildly, trying not to crack up.

"Oh yeah?" Sirius challenged, unnerved but still defiant. "What am I thinking right now?"

"You're obviously wondering how on Earth I know about the Marauder's Map, aren't you, _Prongs_?" The look on his face was so priceless, she couldn't contain her laughter anymore.

Unfortunately, that laugh drew Althea's attention away from Cute-but-clueless and back onto Roxanne. She skipped merrily over to the two of them, ignoring the spluttering and confused Sirius, and grabbed Roxanne's arm.

"C'mon, I gotta introduce you to everyone!" Althea brought them over to the boy she was talking to earlier and forced her to shake his hand. Literally. It was a three-hand shake. Or four, if you included the fact that Althea used both her hands.

"This is Brady Clearwater, he's in seventh year and he hates Arithimancy with every fiber of his being yet continues to take the damn subject. This is Jessica Barclay -" she dragged Roxanne over to a girl with long dirty-blonde hair in a ponytail, who was about six feet tall and with feet bigger than Uncle Ron's. She was intimidating, but she smiled in a friendly way. Or maybe it was crazy. Roxanne was having a hard time telling the difference today. "- Who is probably the most amazing seventh year you will ever meet. She's pretty scary and very retarded, though."

"So you two have a lot in common," Roxanne quipped while shaking Jessica's hand. Althea doubled over with hysterical laughter. She really was quite terrifying. Roxanne had only ever seen one other person laugh like that, and that was Luna Lovegood, who was far from sane. This was slightly worrying. Althea then stopped laughing abruptly and proceeded to drag Roxanne around the common room, pointing people out and saying their names.

"James - Remus - you've already met them - Peter - Alice - Mary - Frank - Lily - isn't she beautiful? James is obsessed with her -"

"Oi!" James shouted, turning red.

"It's not like everyone doesn't already know!" Althea bellowed, even though she was about a metre away from James.

"You still don't hafta say it like that!"

"YOUR MOM!"

Everyone was silent after this random exclamation. Then -

"Perfect! It's the perfect thing, EVER, to say! To anything! Nice, nice!" Althea's brother - the one from the feast - came bounding up to her and high fived her.

"I know, right? Roxanderson, this is Tomothy."

"Don't you mean Timothy?" Roxanne nodded at the boy, who raised a hand in greeting.

"No, she means Thomas. My full name is Timothy John Thomas Anderson, and Allie gives great pleasure in calling me Tomothy. She finds it amusing."

As if to prove his point, Althea had started giggling as soon as Thomas had said his nickname.

"But really, what doesn't she find amusing?"

"Clowns!" Althea shrieked, her eyes once again bulging with crazy thoughts. "Clowns and spiders and snakes and feet and - "

"Wait, _feet_?" Roxanne interuppted, certain she'd heard wrong. Thomas shook his head.

"She's terrified."

Well, there was something. Any time Althea got to be too much to handle, Roxanne would just whip her feet out. Perfect leverage, right there.

But before Roxanne could answer to this - not that she was sure what to say anyway - a hand grabbed her arm and dragged her to a corner. She was spun to face her 'kidnapper'.

"Sirius? A little forward, don't you think?" Roxanne joked, remembering that she was supposed to be able to read his mind. It really should be easy, since she knew so much about him.

"What's my mother's name?"

"Walburga Black," she replied without hesitation. "And you hate her guts. In fact, you ran away from home this summer, and you're now living at James' place. And you secretly feel him up while he's sleeping."

"How did you - wait, no I don't." Sirius looked adorably confused about her last comment. She shrugged.

"I know. I just wanted to see how you'd react. If you were gay, you wouldn't be bothering to talk to me. You're a player, Sirius Black. You have no girl friends, only girlfriends." Roxanne was now just making stuff up, but by the sheepish look on his face, she felt she'd gotten him spot on.

"Ah, well...that's...uh..."

Mainly to spare Sirius the embarrassment of actually replying to that statement, but partially because it was true, Roxanne said, "I'm tired." and Sirius looked relieved.

Althea appeared out of nowhere as Sirius dissolved into the crowd. "Hey, Roxanderson! Tired? Okay! Let's go to bed! We share a dormitory with Alice and Mary and Lily!" she continued with her aimless chatter as they ascended the spiral staircase, but Roxanne found herself more and more tired with every step. By the time they went inside the dormitory room and Althea pointed out which bed was hers, she was nearly dead on her feet.

Without bothering to change into her pajamas, Roxanne collapsed, belly-first, onto her bed, and didn't move from that position until morning. What colorful people she was expected to live with for two years. The people back 'home' were not nearly as strange. But Roxanne herself was pretty odd, in a way, so she thought, what the hell. I can do this. What Gryffindor from her time would be able to put up with Althea Anderson?

_Not a single one of them. But I'll try._

_**xx**_

**a/n; **Yes, I sort of like this chapter! Althea doesn't seem as hyper, but that's because the novelty of being back at Hogwarts had wore off. But don't worry - she gets worse. :D


	4. james

**a/n;** Annnd, I wrote this at five in the morning. My sleep schedule is sooo off. When I have to go back to school Tuesday, I'll pay for it. (two weeks off school, one for Ottawa field trip - which isn't school, I tell you, it isn't! - and then a week of relaxation in Niagara Falls. For no reason. MUAHAHAHA.)

There is a conversation in here that I've planned since I first created my OCs. (well, okay, I was lazy and simply based them off friends, but oh well, same difference) Let's see if you can find the conversation! (it's actually not hard to spot) -feels like a game show host- If you win, you geettt....a Sirius plushie! Nah, I'm kidding. If I had a Sirius plushie, I'd never give it to anyone for any reason. Even if I had two. ...................

............

........................

No, I did not just go and check if there's any such thing. Pish, posh.

(Ignore me. This is five in the freaking morning, and this is just a random chapter with lots of friendship-building and fun stuff.)

_**simply desperate**_

_**james**_

_Louder, louder_

_And we'll run for our lives_

_I can hardly speak, I understand_

_Why you can't raise your voice to say_

_**xx**_

Roxanne ran to breakfast feeling both tired and determined. First day of lessons, oh joy.

For Dumbledore to properly create her timetable, she'd told him the subjects she had been going to continue during her normal time. Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes.

She entered the Great Hall and immediately saw Remus and Sirius sitting at the Gryffindor table, half awake and barely eating.

"Hey, boys. How'd you sleep?" she yawned, waiting for an answer like: _I had this dream where (insert hot girl's name here) was (insert sexy thing here) and then I (blah blah blah) and woke up with a hard-on._ But then she remembered that these boys were not going to say that in front of her (however true it usually was) because she wasn't 'just one of the guys' like she was back home. Yet. She'd have that status soon enough.

Instead, she got to see what Sirius was like first thing in the morning. Disoriented, thinking that Roxanne was James, or invisible, or a house-elf or something, he launched full tilt into the dream he had last night about spaceships, and how he really needed to stop taking Muggle Studies so he didn't slow dance with the aliens anymore. And how he really didn't like it when they probed him because dammit, he was not a pouf, whatever James might say to the contrary!

"That's just...marvelous. Congratulations," Roxanne was supressing her laughter with difficulty, and Sirius seemed to finally notice she was there.

"Anderson, what the hell! Come out of nowhere and give me a heart attack, will you?"

Remus chuckled. "Sirius, maybe you should factor in that she was here for your entire dream recount, and she's eaten half the table -" she glared at him while shoveling pancakes down. "- and possibly you will come to the logical conclusion that -"

"Oh, shove it," James said, appearing out of thin air and looking longingly at the empty bacon tray. He saw Roxanne lifting a piece of bacon to her mouth and he grabbed the end of it, but she sunk her teeth into the other end. She growled a bit, and he growled back for fun, and Sirius continued talking about his alien dream and how they weren't actually green like everyone thought, they were orange, and Remus just watched them all like they were retarded. Which was, you know. Probable.

Roxanne won the bacon fight, but James compromised by taking three of her sasauges. As he settled in the seat beside Remus, he said conversationally, "I heard Althea got Brady pregnant over the summer."

_He must still be half-asleep._ Roxanne finished her plate and belched loudly, making a _whaaaaat?_ gesture at everyone who stared. Thomas and Althea whooped, and then had a burping contest of their own. "Don't you mean the other way around?"

"Nope."

Roxanne looked at him like he was crazy, pulling her dreads into as best a ponytail as manageable. "How is that even _possible_?"

"Maybe it's some weird spell they learned in the restricted section?" Remus suggested, torn between looking amused and disturbed. Sirius shook his head.

"Nahh. I heard it's because she has a penis and he doesn't."

Silence. Roxanne could hear Althea taunting Thomas about losing the burp contest, and the insult war that followed: "YOU INFECTED GLOB OF PAGAN DIRTY UNDERWEAR!" "WHAT'S A PAGAN?" "I DUNNO, BUT YOU'RE STILL IT'S DIRTY UNDERWEAR!" Roxanne decided that she honestly, truly, without-a-doubt did **not** want to know (about either of the conversations) so decided to go for a run around the Lake before classes started in an hour (McGonagall had given them their timetables while Sirius was having his alien recollection. She hadn't really wanted to know either.) and stood up, taking off her outer cloak and throwing it at James.

"Keep hold of this. I'm going for a run."

"Want company?" James asked seriously, and Roxanne was sure he was just as intense about Quidditch as she was. She shrugged her shoulders, and he took his cloak off, too, and threw them both at Remus.

They walked slowly out of the castle together, Roxanne doing her breathing excercises and James was putting his glasses in his jean pocket. They stopped at the exact same place and looked at each other, chuckling.

"Sirius said you read minds the Muggle way. I don't believe it," he challenged, rolling up his pant legs while she stretched.

"Prongs, you better believe it. And you better teach me how to be an Animagus. I'm looking forward to running around with you guys at full moon. Two laps, I'll race you."

James was staring at her, flabbergasted, looked somewhat stupid with one pant leg rolled up and one still down. But he nodded absently, and hastened to fix his pants.

"On your mark." James said in a dazed voice.

"Get set." Roxanne replied in a taunting one.

"GO!" They both shouted, and took off.

God, she loved running. Not as much as flying, of course, but if there was one part of her body she could trust to do what she wanted, when she wanted, it was her feet. They moved extremely quickly, and beat the path hard, even though her eyes were closed, they took her in the right direction. She neither knew, nor cared, whether she was beating James or not.

She could hear him grunting, not from exhaustion, but from frustration. So she was beating him. Her spirits soared. He was being incredibly friendly to her, but maybe...being on the Quidditch team, knowing more shortcuts than they did, and having practical joking as a second nature would up her to Marauder-status.

Speaking of Marauder, where was the fourth one? Where was Wormtail? She'd never asked about him when she saw the name on the map. She hadn't seen him at all since she'd been here, and weren't the Marauders supposed to be inseperable? Or maybe he had been around, she was probably just too busy stuffing herself to notice. Possible. It happened quite often.

Even though her brain was somewhere else entirely and her eyes were tightly shut, her feet stopped at exactly two laps (see, this is why she loved them), and her eyes flickered open to reveal an impressed James Potter.

"I beat you, but not by much. Nice one. Should we get to Potions, m'dear?" James teased, too lazy to put his pants back to normal so she used a charm her Mum once taught her to get them proper. She didn't like guys' legs. _Especially_ Potter legs. Shudder. Her Uncle in a housecoat so tiny it had to have been Aunt Ginny's and barely covering, well, anything, was a memory she had deeply, _deeply_ engraved in her mind. She didn't like Potter chests, either. Eurgh.

The two jogged up to the castle together, and joined the rest of the class in the corridor outside the dungeon room just as Slughorn threw the classroom door open.

After his introduction and everyone had settled down to make the Draught of Living Death, Roxanne had a deeply, _deeply_ disturbing image.

Slughorn.

In that housecoat.

She threw up a little in her mouth, and looked so horrified that Sirius, a seat behind her, chucked a piece of paper at her head. She opened it hastily, glad for the distraction.

_What's up? You look like someone just told you the Beatles got back together only to break up again._

She gave him a shocked look over her shoulder, and he shrugged and mouthed _I took Muggle Studies_. She hastily wrote a reply and tossed the note back at him, enjoying the _ow_ as it hit him in the eye.

_Nah. Nothing as tame as that. I just pictured Slughorn in a dressing gown._

_A tiny dressing gown._

_Possibly flowered._

Roxanne heard audible gagging behind her, and someone else moaning as they hit their head off a desk. Presumably, Sirius had just shown the note to James.

Instead of writing back - probably because his ability to write had been disabled by that painful mental image - Sirius leaned forward to breathe in her ear.

_"Thank you very much for that nightmare that shall haunt us both for the rest of our days."_

_"No problem."_

When she told Althea of this later, Althea quite nearly summoned such a housecoat, just to force it on Slughorn to see what he looked like and take plenty of comprimising pictures. Roxanne was just barely able to talk her out of it, but now Althea was eyeing James with an evil look. Roxanne decided she should probably warn James.

But then decided it'd be much more amusing to see what Althea had in store for James.

_**xx**_

**a/n;** I constantly have those disturbing mental images. CONSTANTLY. ONLY WORSE. LIKE SNAPE. JOGGING. IN A SPEEDO AND SPORTS BRA. AKFJKSJFGKNG I NOW HAVE PICTURED SLUGHORN DOING THAT. THANK YOU, IMAGINATION, **THANK YOU.**

...Anyway. I hope you guys liked this chapter because of (or regardless of) it's silliness. James is being so friendly to Roxanne for a couple reasons, but before someone thinks it, neither of them is because he likes her. Purely friendship between those two. Forever. XDD Like canon!H/Hr.

............Anyyywaaaaay. (SIX IN THE MORNING. IT TOOK ME A WHOLE HOUR TO WRITE THIS CHAPTER. (then again it took me about ten minutes to figure out how to spell 'pouf' correctly before realising there's a number of ways to spell it; then I randomly wanted to know what a femme fatale was, so I read up on that, and, well. I was pretty distracted throughout the hour.))

I hope you liked!

(Oh, and as for the conversation prize thing? I've decided what to give you. Choose a name, house and gender, and your character will make a cameo in the story! -tadaaa-)

(**andi'mmakingsiriusplushiesandsellingthemonebaynow**)


	5. mcgonagall

**a/n;** I was threatened/bribed/blackmailed to write this chapter by my friend Jasmine (who Althea is based off. You understand why I decided to listen to her.) annnnd, so, here it is.

Also, because of a plot bunny that invaded my mind, one of my author's notes in the last chapter is now false. But since it's not yet in the story, I won't say for definite. (And no, I'm not talking about the Sirius plushie which WILL HAPPEN IRL)

ALSO, I just realised that back in "Tomothy", I called Sirius Prongs by mistake. I don't think anyone noticed. But I refuse to fix it because I'm stubborn and already deleted the file.

Sorry about the late-ishness! :)

_**simply desperate**_

_**mcgonagall**_

_To think I might not see those eyes_

_Makes it so hard not to cry_

_And as we say our long goodbye_

_I nearly do_

_**xx**_

"Anderson?"

"Here."

It felt extremely weird to be in the same room with McGonagall, seeing as her hair was still black and she still taught Transfiguration. It felt even weirder to already be used to the last name Anderson. Roxanne was sitting in Transfiguration, the last period of the day (it was Sunday, a half-day), and she really wanted to figure out her clothing situation before dinner. Since she only had the clothes off her back in this time - and no money - she really needed to borrow some from someone else. And she would need to get appropriate workout gear for Quidditch training. Speaking of which, wasn't James captain this year?

McGonagall sighed. "Althea?"

"Hee-err!" a chirping voice came from behind Roxanne, who closed her eyes in exasperation. One could only take so much of Althea. Apparently, McGonagall had to call her by her first name. As McGonagall continued to call names, Roxanne discreetly wrote on a piece of James' parchment, on the desk next to hers, for him to read.

_Quidditch captain?_

_How'd you - wait, "mind reader", right._

_You think I'm just a stalker._

_Stop DOING that!_

Roxanne stifled a giggle as McGonagall got to _Snape?_, to which Althea turned toward him and opened her mouth in the creepiest smile known to man. She didn't blame Snape for inching away, even though he was across the classroom.

_Okay. But seriously, tryouts are when?_

James frowned at the parchment.

_You play?_

_No, you git, I wanted to know for the hell of it. Yes, I play. Chaser. Probably better than you do, too._

_HAH! Bring it. Next week, Anderson._

"Potter! Anderson!" McGonagall barked, and Roxanne jumped, reminded of times when she would sit in this very classroom for detention, playing hangman with another James Potter, yelled at by the same McGonagall...honestly, she'd had _nothing_ to do with Lysander's sudden outbreak of hives, but James always took her down with him...

"Ooh!" Althea suddenly squealed. "Roxanderson is new! This is Severus..." she made a weird noise of pleasure that sounded a bit like a camel before continuing her list. "Lily, Remus, Lenora Emory, she's a Ravenclaw and incredibly smart, but not as smart as Devon Davies, there -" she pointed at a pretty, Hindu-looking girl who was sitting beside a boy with brown curly hair and glasses. "- Except, Davies gets annoying, but we all deal with it because we love him -"

"Speak for yourself!" Sirius protested, once again displaying his displeasure in being called gay as he lounged in his seat on the other side of James.

"You know you have a secret shrine to him under your bed."

"DO NOT."

"DO _TOO_."

"STOP CALLING ME GAY, JAMES!"

"BUT IT'S FUN!"

"AND POSSIBLY TRUE!" Roxanne joined in the shouting. These two were fun being around. McGonagall dropped in her chair and slapped a hand to her forehead.

Althea continued with her introduction of people, most of which Roxanne already knew. "Marcella Ashbury, Slytherin but awesome, Tracie Emmett, Slytherin and she sucks, Desiree Rogers, amazing like whoa, Sirius, sexy -"

"You know it!"

"- but not as sexy as Severus!"

"Huh?" Sirius had a "_what the hell are you completely insane oh wait it's Althea_" look on his face. People get that look a lot.

"Althea? Everyone knows each other. Just...sit...down," McGonagall groaned in frustration. "Just my luck to have you all be so brilliant at Transfiguration, and continue it for the next two years."

"Yeah, we're awesome!" Sirius high-fived James, who was grinning widely.

"Hell yeah! Too bad McGonagall hates us."

"I don't hate you. I just like you all less than any of my other students. Except for Miss Evans, Miss Emory and Mr Lupin, of course. I like them."

Roxanne threw her head back and laughed, louder than everyone else. She got a few weird looks, but she was too immersed in the past - the future? - to care.

_You know, I don't hate all Weasleys. Just you three._

McGonagall never changed, did she?

_But Professor! Uncle George was so much worse than us! And, technically, I'm not a Weasley._

James - always the one to say something back. He always had to have the last word.

_Technically, you're still related to them. And as for George - he, at least, never attempted to put firecrackers in the staff table's pudding at Christmas!_

And then, she, Fred and James would all break into hysterical laughter, and McGonagall would give them a tight-lipped smile before giving them a week's worth of detentions.

"Miss Anderson, are you all right?" McGonagall sounded like she thought Roxanne was crazy. She was brought back to the present with a jolt.

"Yes, I'm sorry, you just...reminded me of someone."

_**xx**_

After Transfiguration, Roxanne's arm was taken hostage by Althea, who had a crazed look on her face as she watched Snape gather his things.

"You wanna stalk him with me?" she asked cheerfully. Roxanne raised an eyebrow at James, who shook his head, like _she's your problem now_. Roxanne scowled at him, but he just chuckled and followed Sirius out of the classroom.

"No, uh, not really," Roxanne said, as apologetically as possible. She looked down to grab her books and felt the hands on her arm tighten to death-grip. She looked up, startled, but Althea was still smiling.

"You don't have a choice!" she chirped, and skipped off with Roxanne in tow.

Roxanne was barely paying attention to Snape, who was looking over his shoulder every few seconds, as if he knew they were there. He darted into a boy's bathroom to shake the girls off, and although Althea actually made to follow him, Roxanne decided to go back to the dorms. However, as soon as she walked through the door of her new dormitory, she heard Mary and her little sister Julie screaming at each other and decided not to intervene. So, she backtracked and went up the boys' staircase, hoping to find them in their room.

Without knocking, as was her style, Roxanne wandered into the fourth year dormitory by mistake, whistling some _Paramore_ song Lysander once serenaded to James, on a dare. When the song was over, she became aware of five boys staring at her. She burst out laughing for no reason, and waved at the boys before continuing on her search of James' room. She smacked a hand to her forehead upon realising there were signs on the door that _said_ which year slept there. Duh. So she sprinted up to the top of the spiral staircase and banged on the sixth year door. Remus answered it, looking bemused, and he smiled wearily when he saw her.

"Hi, Roxanne. What's up?" he asked politely, moving sideways so she could enter the room. She grinned at James before flopping down on the nearest empty bed and shrugging.

"Nothing, really. Got dragged into following Snape. Left Althea to stalk him as she desires. Didn't want to listen to Mary fighting with her sister." Roxanne heard the shower in the next room turn off, and turned her head slightly to see the door open. Sirius stepped out, wearing nothing but a towel. He regarded Roxanne, sprawled on his bed as if she owned it, and smirked.

"Early Christmas present?" he teased, grabbing some clothes from his trunk. Roxanne aimed a kick at his head, but missed because she was too comfortable to really move much. This caused James and Remus to laugh, and Sirius' smirk to widen into a grin. She half-heartedly scowled at them all.

"So, Roxy?" James asked conversationally, chucking something at Sirius' head while the boy darted back into the bathroom with a _"HAH!"_.

"Mm?" she felt her eyes closing. The bed really was comfortable.

"We never saw you with a trunk or anything. Plus, you're wearing the same clothes you were wearing yesterday," James pointed out, and Roxanne wondered when he'd become so observant, but then realised it was probably Remus who brought all this up. She frowned at the thought of her faded jeans and Fred's old flannel shirt. "You...don't have any clothes, do you?" he sounded a bit uncomfortable now, and Roxanne opened one eye to look at them both.

"Nah. My mom burned all my stuff when Dumbledore came and brought me here," she made it up on the spot, but it sounded fine to her. "I don't have money either. Speaking of clothes, though, can I borrow a pair of pajamas and some workout clothes from either of you?" James grinned and nodded, tossing a pair of red sweatpants and a gray t-shirt at her.

"You can use them for both, I'm running low on things that fit me, too. Hey, I've an idea!" he jumped up from his own bed, looking excited. "Let's go shopping!"

And because Roxanne was looking at a sixteen-year-old boy who was completely straight and somewhat macho, acting so delighted about a shopping trip, she cracked up. Not simple, light laughter, or even the laughing fit she'd had in Transfiguration. She fell off Sirius' bed and rolled around on the floor for a while, tears streaming down her face.

"I think you broke her," Sirius' voice came, bewildered, and that caused her to laugh even harder.

"Let's just...take her to dinner?" James' suggestion sounded more like a question, but Remus and Sirius gave noises of assent, so the next thing Roxanne knew, a set of strong arms were lifting her off the ground and carrying her downstairs.

"Merlin's pants, Roxy," James, who was the one carrying her, sounded half-amused, half-confused. Roxanne gave a sheepish grin up at him, and stuck her tongue out at the fourth year boys she saw earlier. They gave her odd looks, and that continued her mirth all the way to the Entrance Hall, when James finally set her down. She swayed slightly on the spot.

"You're weirder than Althea," he said, but everyone knew it wasn't true. All it did was make Roxanne collapse in a fit of more giggles.

_**xx**_

**a/n;** So...yeah. Sorry for the kinda-long wait, only not really, since it was only a few days. Hope you...somewhat....liked this chapter. Roxanne's just a _leetle_ hysterical. But she has reason for it. Plus, she gets hysterical when bad things happen. And not hysterical like crying, hysterical like laughing her ass off. xD


	6. fred

**a/n;** I'm just not even gonna say anything.

Actually, that's a lie.

So the reason I haven't updated this, and the reason it's on hiatus, is because my best friend Jasmine (who Althea is based on) moved to Florida (I'm in Canada) and we were sort of writing this together. So I was pretty uninspired because she was the compass for most of the funny parts. However - today I thought, what the hell. I'll try writing for it.

Here you go, and I love anyone that actually reads this. :)

_**simply desperate**_

_**fred**_

_Light up, light up_

_As if you have a choice_

_Even if I cannot hear your voice_

_I'll be right beside you, dear_

_**xx**_

"Fred..." James was trying to say something, but every time he started talking his throat got dry and his voice cracked. He cleared his throat and pressed on. "Fred...it's been four months. She's...she's not coming back."

Fred glared at his cousin. He'd come out to the Quidditch bleachers so nobody would find him. Of course, he'd forgot that James knew all his hiding places. "Yes. She _is_."

"_No_!" James snapped, losing patience in the blink of an eye. "She _isn't_! God dammit, Fred, she's _gone_! The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can get better!"

The redhaired boy just stared blankly. "She'll come back, James. Can't you feel it? She'll come back."

The fifth year sighed in defeat. It was September already, and that summer was the longest, bleakest summer for their family. They anxiously awaited the day that Roxanne would come home, smiling and apologizing _"Sorry, sorry! Didn't mean to be late!"_. But...it never came.

Aunt Angelina was in pieces. And it's not like Uncle George or Fred could help her out - they were shattered, too. The whole family was somber, Quidditch was barely played, Lily couldn't stop crying, Grandma couldn't smile right.

James had heard the hushed conversation his dad and Aunt Hermione had. It was late August, after midnight. He couldn't fall asleep, so he went down to the kitchen to make himself a BLT sandwich. His dad and aunt were whispering, so he stopped outside the doorframe to eavesdrop.

"...can't believe it, it's just so horrible."  
"And George was just getting better, too."

"Harry," she started to sob quietly. "Do you think...do you think she's -"

"I don't know," Dad sighed. "But I really hope she isn't."

After that, all he could hear were his aunt's sobs and his dad murmuring comforts. He silently went back to his room and tried not to understand what the conversation meant.

"If that's what you want to think..."  
"I don't think, I know," Fred was becoming more and more defiant. James threw his hands up in surrender.

"See you at dinner, cuz."

"Yeah," Fred deflated, slumping. James jogged towards the castle. "Maybe..."

_"Fred, Fred!" a small girl squealed in excitement. "Dad says we're going on a trip, did'ja hear?"_

_Her brother smiled and hugged her. "Yep, yep. We're going to _Italy_!"_

_"It's gonna be so much fun!" she grinned, and he noticed a gap in her teeth._

_"Roxy," he fake gasped. "Is that - did you lose another _tooth_?"_

_"Yes!" she exclaimed happily. "I did, I did!"_

_"Well, that means you'll be a big girl soon."_

_"Like cousin Vicky?"_

_He kissed her forehead. "Exactly like cousin Vicky. Except much prettier."_

_"Fred," she giggled. "That isn't _possible_."_

He groaned and let his head fall onto his knees. His sister wasn't seven anymore. She was almost sixteen. But she was still just as energetic, just as..._happy_ as she'd been nine years ago.

So, there was no way she wasn't coming back. _It just...isn't possible._

_**xx**_

**a/n;** I dunno what to say. This is a srsbsns chapter. Sorry, but they're gonna pop up every once in a while. :P

_Does this mean the story's off hiatus?_ Maybe. I'm a horrible updater, so hiatus-ing it gave me an excuse to never look at it again. If you don't mind irregular updating, then stick with me, but if you hate it when an author uploads three chapters a week and then stops updating for months - this author is not for you.

Love you all, dear readers. :)


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